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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27702032">it's sick sick (but i love you so much)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/midzyzen/pseuds/midzyzen'>midzyzen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Dialogue Heavy, Fluff and Crack, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, donghyuck tries to hit on jaemin in zoom class for two months, zoom au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 04:03:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27702032</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/midzyzen/pseuds/midzyzen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The struggles of trying to woo the guy you like in online university, as told by Donghyuck.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>199</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>it's sick sick (but i love you so much)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ah yes...in 2018 i published the yoonkook pancreas denial au, in 2019 i put out my worst fic to date, crush culture, and this year i decided to continue the tradition of posting a useless crack fic that doesn't make much sense structurally or any other way actually with this classic. just vibes just gay people not a stylistic device in sight...it's pretty cute tho at least i think maybe it's the nahyuck brainrot. </p><p>thank u to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/tofugumball/pseuds/tofugumball">kinnie</a> for being the inspiration for this one hehe...the title from bump bump by woodz and there's no playlist this time it's just this song, down by jay sean and taylor swift's discography...hope u enjoy</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Now, maybe Donghyuck is not the world’s most studious Psychology major, but—actually, there’s not much of a follow-up, come to think of it. Last year, he attended maybe half of his classes courtesy of Mark who dmed them the attendance code every lecture. He procrastinates on all of his assignments and ends up turning them in ten minutes before the deadline, praying the system doesn’t crash on him. That kind of thing.</p><p class="p1">And, well, it’s safe to say those habits of his aren’t the healthiest and far from beneficial for his university career, but he’s managed to get around. But now, with the introduction of online education, Donghyuck’s insane tendencies are turned up a notch or two. Or twenty.</p><p class="p1">It’s not even his fault, if we’re being honest. The concept of Zoom is just amusing to him. From custom backgrounds that never work because he doesn’t own a green screen to jumping between breakout rooms to find his friends, technology never fails to amaze him.</p><p class="p1">By far the most amusing feature, though, is the private chat that he uses exclusively to talk shit with his friends during lectures. Now, Donghyuck hand-picked out a perfect inner circle back in his first year, which satisfied most of his social needs perfectly. There was Renjun, his platonic soulmate who was just as lazy as Donghyuck, but somehow surprisingly good at Statistics. Mark, the token straight man of the group who was their complete opposite in terms of dedication to academia (meaning he sent them notes and knew coursework deadlines).</p><p class="p1">And then there was Jaemin.</p><p class="p1">Now, Jaemin started out mostly as Renjun’s extension, but Donghyuck quickly realised he was more; easily annoyed by all of Donghyuck’s teasing, he quickly became their prime target. The more Jaemin resisted, the more Donghyuck tried to get him to crack, rile him up further. And now, thanks to the miracles of modern technology, his job is easier than ever.</p><p class="p1">On a particularly boring Cognitive lecture, Donghyuck opens the chatbox and sets it to private between him and Jaemin. The key is keeping a straight face; the goal is to elicit a reaction out of Jaemin rather than be caught himself.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>hey</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>hey?</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>u look like u just got out of the shower lmaoooo</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>its a 10am sue me</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>no u look good<br/>
u look hot with ur hair pushed back </em>
</p><p class="p1">Just to spite him, Jaemin pushes his hair back down, wet strands sticking to his forehead. It’s kind of unfair that he makes both work for him, but God has his favourites it seems. Still, Donghyuck takes it as somewhat of a personal offence; and it looked much better before, too, made staring at Jaemin worth ignoring classes for. He’s been doing that a lot, lately, ever since Jaemin dyed his hair back to black.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>:/</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>do you want sth?</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>yes</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>what</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>:)</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>can u let me study</em></p><p class="p1">To his joy and great amusement, the <em>Donghyuck Frown</em> begins to crease Jaemin’s forehead. It’s Renjun who coined the term, having noticed Jaemin has this characteristic expression when Donghyuck has him particularly vexed.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>no</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>ok</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>jaeminnnn<br/>
heyyyy<br/>
look at me<br/>
wait omg i just noticed u have a polaroid of us on ur wall heyyy bestie</em>
</p><p class="p1">It’s one they took last year at the photo booth in the mall that they hit up in a break between classes. It was just the two of them then, because Renjun and Mark stayed back in the library like <em>nerds</em> (Jaemin’s words not his). He pulled Jaemin in leaving him with no choice but to spend the next five minutes channelling their fourteen-year-old selves.</p><p class="p1">Donghyuck keeps his in his calendar, attached to the first page with washi tape. It’s nice they both kept it.</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>can u quit stalking me</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>no</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>ok</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>is that ur dirty laundry on the floor lmaoooo</em>
</p><p class="p3">Donghyuck grins to himself watching Jaemin visibly sigh on the screen. This is going to be entertaining.</p><p class="p4">
  <em>//</em>
</p><p class="p1">It doesn’t take a genius to figure out Donghyuck has a crush on Jaemin and thank god, because Donghyuck wouldn’t have figured it out otherwise. He kind of always knew, but it properly hit him during one social psychology lecture. He noticed Jaemin biting on the tip of his pen in breaks between taking notes and it was more attractive than it should be. In fact, it was attractive to the point where Donghyuck had to zoom into his face to get a better look (it’s not like he gives a fuck about the powerpoint presentation, so…).</p><p class="p1">Now, Donghyuck knows it’s kind of a problem, because they’re friends and it could fuck up their dynamics, especially if Jaemin doesn’t like him back. But he suspects Jaemin kind of does, despite Donghyuck’s pestering. If anything, Donghyuck should probably amp it up. Having the emotional maturity of a preschooler is his charming point. And Jaemin looks cute when you fuck with him, so that’s exactly what Donghyuck does.</p><p class="p1">According to his fool-proof ten-step plan to get Jaemin to date him, it will take Donghyuck around two months (if not earlier) to have Jaemin go crazy about him. He just has to do what he does best; be funny, witty and unrelenting — he has to prove just how dedicated and committed he already is. It goes like this:</p><p class="p2">
  <em>you could hit me with a car and i’d still mess with you</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>are you texting the wrong person</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>noo<br/>
ur the only one for meeeee</em>
</p><p class="p1">Which has Jaemin rolling his eyes, but Donghyuck knows he’s just playing.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>text me back bestie…don’t leave a man hanging</em>
</p><p class="p1"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>why would i talk to you</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>once you’re in a relationship you think its gone last forever…but in all reality it only lasts for as long as you’re working for it. if one person stops working it falls apart</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin</em> </b> <em><br/>
you know whats funny </em></p><p class="p1">Victory, Donghyuck decides. Jaemin must, rightfully, think he’s the funniest person alive. And who doesn’t want to date a funny guy, especially if he looks like Donghyuck?</p><p class="p2">
  <em>what</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>you do psychology in uni when rly u should be one of our case studies</em></p><p class="p1">Well, maybe Jaemin isn’t as easy to woo as Donghyuck suspected. But that’s okay, he likes a challenge. The following day he puts his nicest sweater on and straightens his hair. He can tell from his self-view that he looks cute, but naturally he asks for Jaemin’s opinion.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>do u think i look cute be honest</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>no</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>i dressed up nice for u :(((</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>ok</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>do i look pretty then</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>no<br/>
god stop looking sad of course you look nice %$#@%</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>just nice?</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>can you try being normal like. once?</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>no</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>ok</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>rate me</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>are you twelve</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>12/10? omg babe if you say so…</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>i meant age</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>sure you did<br/>
</em>
</p><p class="p1">The day after one of their coursework deadlines that Donghyuck knows Jaemin pulled an all-nighter to finish, he comes to class looking tired out of his mind. To Donghyuck’s amazement, Jaemin doesn’t look half bad for someone who has drunk the entire convenience store supply of Pink Monsters to get him through life. Still, that might just be Donghyuck’s insanity talking — he is quite crazy over Jaemin, he realises, at this point there’s no going back.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>i love me a man that can slay one day and look homeless the next<br/>
balance baby &lt;333</em>
</p><p class="p1"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>are you gonna do this every class or</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>if i can’t talk to you 17 times a week then it aint no point of us dating</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>is that the part where i remind you we’re not dating</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>noooo don’t say that :((((<br/>
ur telling me i gotta reschedule our wedding reservations<br/>
babe the venue won’t give us back the deposit are u sure</em>
</p><p class="p1">To Donghyuck’s amazement Jaemin snorts over the screen. He covers his mouth, but his shoulders shaking is a dead giveaway he’s laughing. He doesn’t write Donghyuck back, but he doesn’t have to; Donghyuck is perfectly content with the smile on his face that Jaemin’s doesn’t even try to contain for the rest of the class.</p><p class="p4">
  <em>//</em>
</p><p class="p1">Donghyuck thinks his mind is playing tricks on him when he hears the muffled sound of Taylor Swift singing about walking through the door with Jake (Devil) Gyllenhaal in the middle of his bio-psych lecture — university has finally made him go insane. However, he quickly notices Jaemin unmuted himself by accident and is behind the sudden commotion. Like the helpful future boyfriend he is, Donghyuck decides to let him know.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>hey jaem</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>WHAT AGAIN</em></p><p class="p1">Man, Donghyuck got the capslock treatment. His shit really must have gotten to Jaemin. Alas, the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference, so he can only rejoice.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>you’re unmuted king<br/>
we can all hear all too well playing in ur headphones</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>FUCK<br/>
omg thanks this was so awkward</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>so thats what you do on lectures huh<br/>
red do be a fall album tho </em>
</p><p class="p1">It was actually Donghyuck who introduced Jaemin to Taylor Swift last year. To Donghyuck’s horror, Jaemin used to be a belieber and the only female singer he listened to was Ariana (which, like, okay, but an intervention was still necessary). His efforts were met with reluctance at first, but in less than a month he was handing Jaemin tissues when they were watching the<em> reputation Stadium Tour</em> on Netflix together.</p><p class="p1">It’s kind of attractive how much of a swiftie Jaemin has become since that time, or maybe it’s just another stage of Donghyuck’s brain rot. Suddenly all he can think about is Jaemin running the red ‘cause he would be looking over at him and yeah, Donghyuck’s sold on that idea. It’s as senseless as it gets, because he doesn’t want to end up breaking up with Jaemin and Jaemin doesn’t even have a driving license to begin with, but it works somehow in his silly head.</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>hehe…</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>you always say im distracting you<br/>
but look at you LIAR<br/>
you haven’t been paying attention TO BEGIN WITH</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>ur distracting me from taylor</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>nooo babe u can’t say that<br/>
i’ll lose all my swiftie street cred</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>ur distracting me from taylor</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>why do u hate me</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>bcoz ur distracting me from taylor</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>i know ima handful…but that’s why god gave you two hands </em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>one way to put things</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>are u tired of me </em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>yes</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>get you an energy drink then lmao</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>ok</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>omg sexy af candle</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>thx</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>scented?</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>ye</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>imagine being beautiful and ur man never post you</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>you and i have both lost the plot of the movie at this point</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>you never post me</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>that’s not true you’re like. half my ig feed</em></p><p class="p1">Maybe Jaemin has a bit of a point here; at least that was the case last year when they would hang out almost every day. Jaemin would take it upon himself to post about it religiously on Instagram under the guise of “building a portfolio”. While Donghyuck knows he does photography, he would call bullshit, teasing Jaemin about showing off the fact that he finally developed a social life.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>this isn’t ig this is ZOOM</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>am i supposed to set ur pic as my bg</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>yes &lt;3</em>
</p><p class="p1">To Donghyuck’s surprise, Jaemin does actually end up changing his zoom background to a selfie of them, Mark and Renjun from last year. Like him, Jaemin doesn’t have a green-screen, so it ends up covering up half of his face, but Donghyuck can only find it endearing. It makes him miss seeing Jaemin in person even more than he already does. Realising how sappy he sounds in his head, Donghyuck makes up for it in the chat.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>that’s not me</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>that’s literally you<br/>
?</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>that’s me and renjun and mark and &lt;you3<br/>
i’d be fine if it was me and you &lt;3 but not these bitches ruining our wedding photos wtf jaem…<br/>
mark renjun go hi twin on ur bf’s zoom bg and ruin ur day</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>will u shut up if i set the two of us</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>yes &lt;3</em>
</p><p class="p1">Jaemin shakes his head, but complies nonetheless, changing the background to a photo of the two of them that Mark or Renjun must have taken some time ago. They’re clinging to each other in the picture, Donghyuck flashing a bright smile to the camera and Jaemin smiling at him instead. He sees a few of their classmates snickering or looking weirded out to say the least, but he can only feel fond.</p><p class="p1">That’s when Donghyuck realises they look good together, but more importantly, Jaemin makes him weak. Not sure if it’s something he minds, or should mind, he chooses to ignore it.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>hehe ty babe</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>happy now?</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>very</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>good<br/>
&lt;3</em></p><p class="p1">Donghyuck doesn’t care enough to stop himself from grinning.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>&lt;333333333</em>
</p><p class="p4">
  <em>//</em>
</p><p class="p1">Hitting on Jaemin proves to be even more fun in breakout rooms, Donghyuck decides. Thanks to the inner workings of fate, he was assigned to one breakout room with Jaemin and some other guy the other day. He made sure to vocally announce it was destiny, which Jaemin didn’t confirm or deny — a definite win. The other guy seemed uncomfortable, bless his heart. Donghyuck feels for him, he really does, young love is terribly obnoxious.</p><p class="p1">This class, however, is one Donghyuck particularly likes because the teacher lets them choose their breakout rooms. Which means he doesn’t have to leave his future with Jaemin in the hands of destiny, but he can chase after it instead. He quickly finds the breakout room with Renjun, Mark and Jaemin already present.</p><p class="p1">“Hi guys,” Renjun unmutes himself.</p><p class="p1">“Yo.”</p><p class="p1">“Hey.”</p><p class="p1">“Hey, Jaemin. Hey, non-Jaemins,” Donghyuck greets, instead, just to make a point.</p><p class="p1">While Renjun and Mark seem unfazed, Jaemin looks positively mortified. “Jesus, Donghyuck.”</p><p class="p1">“What?”</p><p class="p1">“At least keep it in private,” Jaemin says through his teeth and maybe it’s the poor lighting and his shitty webcam, but he looks red in the face.</p><p class="p1">“But I love you,” Donghyuck pouts, which seems to amuse Renjun if his snort is any evidence.</p><p class="p1">“You’re embarrassing me.”</p><p class="p1">“Say it back,” Donghyuck whines.</p><p class="p1">“Uh, hi guys?” A new voice speaks up out of nowhere. Too busy analysing whether Jaemin was more annoyed or flustered, Donghyuck didn’t realise another person joined them. It’s Lucas, who’s kind of their friend, but also not part of the inner circle. He’s nice, though, as far as Donghyuck remembers. Really attractive, too, but he’s only got eyes for Jaemin, so he doesn’t pay it as much attention as he would have at one point of his life.</p><p class="p1">“Oh, Lucas. Hey,” he says, feeling a little disgruntled that he has to share Jaemin with yet another person.</p><p class="p1">“Hi, king,” Mark echoes, admittedly the closest out of all of them to Lucas. They’re in Gamer Soc together and it’s rather fitting.</p><p class="p1">“Hey! What were you talking about?” Lucas asks, presumably about their assignment.</p><p class="p1">“Me and Jaemin’s blossoming relationship,” Donghyuck supplies helpfully, earning a confused look from Lucas and another (loving) groan from Jaemin. Renjun tells Lucas to ignore them and shares his screen with the question file open. While the plebeians discuss the correspondence problem (whatever that is), Donghyuckchooses to message Jaemin.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>u didn’t say it back :(((</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>r u normal</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>no<br/>
say it back :(((((((</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>fine<br/>
i love you</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>no<br/>
you gotta say it<br/>
you gotta let breakout room 5 know</em>
</p><p class="p1">“So, what do you guys think of two?” Renjun speaks up then. “Outline two ways of solving the correspondence problem, anyone got any ideas?”</p><p class="p1">“<em>Jaemin?</em>” Donghyuck coughs out under his breath.</p><p class="p1">Jaemin sighs in response, very audibly. Quite unprofessional of him, if Donghyuck says so himself, it’s an academic setting after all.</p><p class="p1">“I think Jaemin has an idea, guys,” he continues, revelling in how defeated Jaemin looks.</p><p class="p1">“There’s object matching theory and local feature matching. The latter is backed by random-dot stereograms. And…” he pauses to take a breather.</p><p class="p1">“Yes?” Donghyuck encourages him.</p><p class="p1">“I love you, too, Donghyuck.”</p><p class="p1">“God, I hate you both so much,” Renjun seethes.</p><p class="p1">“That’s so sweet, you guys,” Lucas says, still a little confused, but very much supportive. He’s not in Donghyuck’s good books for long, though, because he quickly follows it up with a, “you seem like such good friends” comment. It’s particularly irritating, because Donghyuck can’t really correct him — they’re not dating yet, after all.</p><p class="p1">“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Jaemin comments instead, almost offhandedly, and Donghyuck narrowly beats the urge to leave the call and jump out of the window. “Anyways, moving on to three.”</p><p class="p2">
  <em>what was that</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>:)</em></p><p class="p4">//</p><p class="p1">It’s November already and there’s been no progress between him and Jaemin. Not that Donghyuck gave up on trying, but days go by and Jaemin makes no effort to ask him out. He’s had many an opportunity, with Donghyuck dropping hints here and there. Take last Wednesday, for example.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>no more talking stages either we are dating or im single. talk to god not me</em>
</p><p class="p1">A clear invitation on Donghyuck’s part, rather blunt, too. But to no avail —</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin </em> </b> <em><br/>
im wasnt even talking to you in the first place</em></p><p class="p3">— which is a blatant lie, by the way, because Jaemin doesn’t go two days without texting him (the group chat counts for Donghyuck’s sanity’s sake).</p><p class="p2">
  <em>thats not true we talk</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>well<br/>
not anymore it seems</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>:/<br/>
actually<br/>
i found an excuse for you to date me fr</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>did u now</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>ye<br/>
u know the tiktok guy who doesnt blink<br/>
and he said hes never seen two pretty best friends<br/>
this means we were destined to fail as just friends from the get go<br/>
coz we’re both pretty<br/>
i made a whole powerpoint slideshow if u need more convincing</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>what about renjun and mark<br/>
theyre pretty</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>nonono wait a minute<br/>
babe this is about us nooo why did u bring our understudies up<br/>
okay wait<br/>
renjun pretty yes<br/>
mark also yes but hes straight so you’re gonna need to demote him from best friend to friend<br/>
renjun. hm. i didnt consider renjun enough<br/>
wait do u wanna date renjun?</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>no</em></p><p class="p2">
  <em>okay see so my point stands</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b> <em>na jaemin<br/>
</em> </b> <em>who said i wanna date you</em></p><p class="p3">Donghyuck swallows back the heartbreak.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>do you wanna date me?</em>
</p><p class="p3">
  <em><b>na jaemin </b><br/>
plead the fifth</em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>HA<br/>
you wanna kiss me so bad it makes you look stupid</em>
</p><p class="p3">
  <em><b>na jaemin </b><br/>
yeah</em>
</p><p class="p3">Donghyuck reads it once. Then again. And five more times until it sinks in.</p><p class="p2">
  <em>omg??<br/>
wait r u fr<br/>
jaemin?????<br/>
r u just shitting me<br/>
JAEMIN????<br/>
heyyyy i cant find the gay men kissing emoji but that’s us btw<br/>
</em>
</p><p class="p3">
  <em><b>na jaemin </b><br/>
:)</em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>&lt;3<br/>
say it back</em>
</p><p class="p3"><b>na jaemin </b><br/>
ur clinically insane<br/>
&lt;3</p><p class="p3">God, Donghyuck likes him. Like <em>really, </em>really likes him. And maybe he sounds delusional, but sometimes he believes it’s actually not one-sided. Just the thought makes him all giddy.</p><p class="p4">
  <em>//</em>
</p><p class="p1">When Renjun sends him a Zoom link, warning him that the meeting is confidential, Donghyuck wonders if he should just ignore it. He doesn’t in the end, because Renjun is being sneaky and Donghyuck is a nosey person naturally. The emergency light emoji only fuels his curiosity.</p><p class="p1">“What is this?” he asks when Renjun lets him in from the waiting room. It’s just the two of them which is kind of scary. Donghyuck wonders what he could have possibly done, because it couldn’t have been anything good.</p><p class="p1">“An intervention,” Renjun calmly announces.</p><p class="p1">“Oh, God, you’ve actually gone insane. I was dreading the day.”</p><p class="p1">“Yo, guys,” Mark appears to Donghyuck’s relief.</p><p class="p1">“Hey, Mark,” he says.</p><p class="p1">“Hey, sup?” Renjun echoes.</p><p class="p1">“Yo, I was just watching Drag Race,” Mark tells them and it eases the tension almost immediately.</p><p class="p1">“Ooh, which season?” Donghyuck sounds a bit too excited, but in his defence he’s been an avid watcher since middle school. He got himself Rupaul-style glasses from Claire’s once, just to be able to resonate with him better.</p><p class="p1">“The first, I just started. <em>Man</em>, I hate Rebecca. I mean, not in, like, I hate her for doing drag, drag is great. But man, she’s not half as talented as my queen Bebe, that’s all. And her outfits are trash.”</p><p class="p1">Donghyuck nods. He was more of an Ongina fan, but he can’t deny Bebe deserved the win. Especially with how she owned her verse in Cover Girl. Mark had a SoundCloud rapper phase back in the day, so he’ll surely appreciate it. “Preach, God, she looked like a Forever21 clearance section.”</p><p class="p1">“Since when do you watch Drag Race?” Renjun asks. “And what for, actually?”</p><p class="p1">“Oh, you guys kept mentioning it, and I was, like, I felt like it was something I should watch to be a better ally.”</p><p class="p1">“Well,” Donghyuck purses his lips. Sweet, innocent Mark. He wants to shove him into a locker sometimes, but out of love.</p><p class="p1">“Mark, baby, we’re gonna talk about this after the intervention,” Renjun promises and Donghyuck is relieved he took it upon him to handle that one.</p><p class="p1">“Anyways, where’s Jaemin? I miss Jaemin,” Donghyuck says, growing rather impatient. What could be taking him so long, Donghyuck has no idea and it’s more than unnerving.</p><p class="p1">“He’s not coming and don’t tell him about this,” Renjun warns to both his and Mark’s surprise. Call him protective, but meeting behind Jaemin’s back doesn’t sit too well with Donghyuck. Before he can speak up, though, Mark does, looking far too happy about this.</p><p class="p1">“Are we finally roasting Jaemin?” He asks. “Oh shit, I hated the pink hair, the dye job was—”</p><p class="p1">“We’re not roasting Jaemin, we’re roasting Donghyuck,” Renjun interrupts before Donghyuck can strangle Mark through the screen. The pink hair was great, mind you.</p><p class="p1">“Me?” There’s more pressing issues than Mark being insane, though. Being the subject of Renjun’s intervention has got him all confused. He hasn’t given Renjun a single reason to be fed up with him recently, not that he remembers. “Is that why Jaemin is not here, because he has nothing bad to say about me and he loves me—”</p><p class="p1">“No, this is the problem. You are the problem.” Wow, way to be subtle. “You gotta stop joking about wanting to date Jaemin.”</p><p class="p1">“Wait, wait,” Mark interrupts. “If this is about Donghyuck and Jaemin’s relationship why am I here?”</p><p class="p1">“Because you think Jaemin has a crush on you,” Renjun sighs.</p><p class="p1">Now, this is news to Donghyuck. “Jaemin has a crush on you?”</p><p class="p1">“Oh, right,” Mark scratches his head like Donghyuck’s life isn’t falling apart. “I think Jaemin’s into me.”</p><p class="p1">Donghyuck sends out the thumbs down react to express disapproval. If Mark’s right, he’ll actually jump off a bridge. Well, maybe that’s a bit too far-fetched, but he’s going to listen to Better Than Revenge without a minute of break for the next forty-eight hours.</p><p class="p1">“He’s not into you, Mark, I told you ten times,” Renjun whines.</p><p class="p1">“He can’t be into you, I have a wedding presentation ready to pitch Jaemin, you can’t do this to me,” Donghyuck pleads.</p><p class="p1">“Okay, first of all,” Renjun mutes both of their mics and says, “Jaemin doesn’t like Mark. I promise, I know that with, like, a hundred percent certainty.”</p><p class="p1">Donghyuck unmutes himself to let out a victory cheer, but before he can tell Mark to suck it, Renjun mutes him again.</p><p class="p1">“Second,” he continues. “Jaemin thinks you’re fucking with him.” Donghyuck is quick to type out a <em>‘man</em> <em>i wish :/’</em>, but Renjun choses to ignore him. “Even from my standpoint it doesn’t look like you’re taking him seriously.”</p><p class="p1">“I am,” Donghyuck argues. “What are you even talking about?”</p><p class="p1">“You joke about it a lot, he doesn’t think you actually mean any of it,” Renjun explains. “And, like, it was funny at first, but now he’s feeling awkward about it.”</p><p class="p1">“Is he?” Donghyuck feels a little guilty now. Obviously, he loves teasing Jaemin as much as the next guy, but he doesn’t want him to feel bad. Annoyed maybe, but not to the point where it would put a strain on their relationship. “Why didn’t he tell me, wait…”</p><p class="p1">“I mean, the guy he likes decided he’s gonna act like they’re dating. What was he supposed to do, tell you no? He feels like you’re shitting with him to get a reaction out of him.”</p><p class="p1">“But Donghyuck says he likes Jaemin,” Mark butts in, for once in his defence. “Like, he’s made it painfully clear. It’s hard to watch them, sometimes. Any couple that acts like this, by the way—”</p><p class="p1">“—we got it, no worries,” Donghyuck cuts him off. “Also, Mark’s right. I’m obsessed with Jaemin. Like, literally, I wouldn’t do this for any other person. Do you know how much my pride has suffered in the last two months? Girl, liking Jaemin is <em>humbling</em>, let me tell you.”</p><p class="p1">“Could you, like, maybe, I don’t know, <em>make it clear</em> with him?” Renjun tells him and Donghyuck can tell he’s at the very least exasperated. In all fairness, if Renjun is coming from a place of concern for Jaemin, he has no other choice but to follow along. The realisation that he could have unconsciously been hurting a person he cares about so much weighs heavier on his chest with every minute. “Like, it’s hard to tell. For me, but most importantly for him.”</p><p class="p1">“Wait a minute,” Mark’s jaw drops. “So Jaemin likes <em>Donghyuck</em>?”</p><p class="p1">“Oh shit, I completely missed that part,” Donghyuck gasps. “He likes me back? Like, it’s confirmed?”</p><p class="p1">Renjun groans. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you.”</p><p class="p1">“Of course you <em>were</em> supposed to tell me,” Donghyuck says. “Jaemin and I could have been <em>married</em> by now. Why would you do this to us?”</p><p class="p1">“Because I don’t stick my nose in your relationship?”</p><p class="p1">“Isn’t that what this intervention is?”</p><p class="p1">“What does Donghyuck have that I don’t?” Mark muses, tone clearly disappointed. “Like, I’m hot, too. Why does Jaemin have a thing for him and not me?”</p><p class="p1">“Spiritual connection!”</p><p class="p1">“Beats me,” Renjun tells Mark, pursing his lips. “Anyways, gay marriage is not even legal, you wouldn’t have been married.”</p><p class="p1">“That sucks, by the way, guys,” Mark says. “When the National Statistics people called with a public opinion poll asking if I’m in favour of gay marriage I said yes, by the way. For the yous and Jaemins out there.”</p><p class="p1">“See, thank you, Mark, you’re an angel,” Donghyuck coos at him. “What do I even do about it, though?”</p><p class="p1">“Maybe ask him out,” Mark suggests.</p><p class="p1">“Nah, I can’t just do that,” he shakes his head, “that would be crazy.”</p><p class="p1">“No, that’s exactly what you should do,” Renjun says, “Mark’s right.”</p><p class="p1">“I’m loving this intervention,” Mark mumbles, awfully proud of himself.</p><p class="p1">“Are you—Renjun, are you <em>normal</em>? I can’t ask Jaemin out, he’s gotta ask <em>me </em>out.”</p><p class="p1">“And why would that be?”</p><p class="p1">“A. I’m an air sign, he’s a fire sign. B. I’m shy,” he ignores the snorts from both Renjun <em>and </em>Mark (traitor). “C. I’ve shown signs of liking him. He’s not shown signs of liking <em>moi</em>.”</p><p class="p1">“To be fair, he puts up with you,” Mark shrugs. “Like, you’ve been putting him through public mortification for two months straight now. I’d cut you off. Or change schools.”</p><p class="p1">“What Mark said.”</p><p class="p1">“Wait, so you’re telling me I’m insufferable,” they both nod, “but Jaemin still likes me?”</p><p class="p1">“Yeah,” Renjun says.</p><p class="p1">“Jury’s still out on that one,” Mark huffs.</p><p class="p1">“God, that’s perfect. If he likes me now, he’s gonna love me when I’m nice to him,” Donghyuck bounces on his bed, his BTS-early-logo-shaped cushion threatening to fall over the edge. “I’m so excited, I’ve been dating him in my head for months now.”</p><p class="p1">“Somehow, I think I just sabotaged myself,” Renjun notices. “Actually, I think Jaemin is into Mark, ignore everything I’ve said up till this point—”</p><p class="p1">“Wait, if you guys get married when gay marriage is legal, do I get to be best man?” Mark bursts out, no longer remotely upset.</p><p class="p1">“Of course,” Donghyuck waves it off, “it wouldn’t be the same without you bestie. And I bet Jaemin loves you so much he’ll want you to be his best man, too. Fuck Renjun.”</p><p class="p1">“Okay, I love it. You have my blessing, I officially deny Jaemin ever being into me.”</p><p class="p1">“Mark,” Donghyuck pretends to wipe back a tear, “the way I love you, king…so supportive of true love, unlike—”</p><p class="p1">He doesn’t get to finish when Renjun ends the meeting, kicking the two of them out of the room.</p><p class="p4">//</p><p class="p1">"Hey, they just delivered my food,” Donghyuck says, plugging his earphones back into the laptop, the screen of which is taken up by Jaemin’s face.</p><p class="p1">“Okay, that’s nice,” Jaemin brings out his own takeout, wrapped in a brown paper bag with a red logo to match Donghyuck’s. “What did you order?”</p><p class="p1">“Lasagne!” He pulls out the metal container to show Jaemin.</p><p class="p1">“No shit, me too!” Jaemin gasps, taking out his own and waving it in front of the camera.</p><p class="p1">“Told you we’re soulmates,” Donghyuck comments, earning a small smile and unimpressed eye-roll from Jaemin. It’s a vast improvement from the annoyed scowls he’s grown used to.</p><p class="p1">“Sure, we are,” Jaemin sighs, indulging Donghyuck this once. It’s a special occasion after all, their first official date. Upon Donghyuck’s suggestion, they choose to hold a dinner date over Zoom, ordering from the same place for the illusion of the real thing. They dressed up, too, just to make it as realistic as possible.</p><p class="p1">“How’s your essay going?” Donghyuck asks, unsure how to act. He’s used to teasing Jaemin, the back and forth, but it’s different now. Sweet, more intimate. Not something he wants to fuck up.</p><p class="p1">“Ass. Haven’t started,” Jaemin replies, taking a bite of the lasagne and humming happily. “This is <em>good</em>, damn.”</p><p class="p1">“I haven’t either,” Donghyuck laughs. “Hey, what if we dropped out? Just a thought.”</p><p class="p1">“I think we’re gonna get kicked out before we even file to drop out, I wouldn’t worry,” Jaemin entertains him. “Couples dropping out vlog would slay though.”</p><p class="p1">Donghyuck almost, <em>almost, </em>chokes on his lasagne when Jaemin calls them a couple. “Uh, yeah.”</p><p class="p1">“Anyways,” Jaemin clears his throat. “I, uh—don’t tell me if it’s corny, but…”</p><p class="p1">“What did you do?”</p><p class="p1">“I, uh. Made us a playlist. Like, with songs we like or that I associate with you and—if it’s really cringe-y, we can, like, never speak of it again, but—”</p><p class="p1">“No, no,” Donghyuck interrupts Jaemin’s rambling with a small smile, “it’s sweet. You’re, uh, sweet.”</p><p class="p1">“Oh, uh, that’s nice. That you think that?”</p><p class="p1">“Yeah.”</p><p class="p1">“Yeah…”</p><p class="p1">“Are you, like, gonna play it? Or…”</p><p class="p1">“Right, right,” Jaemin realises and proceeds to share his sound with Donghyuck. “Don’t judge me too much, I didn’t put a single Bieber or XXX…”</p><p class="p1">“You really went all out for me, wow,” Donghyuck jokes, snorting when the opening to <em>Down</em> by Jay Sean starts playing. “Why is <em>this</em> our song?”</p><p class="p1">“Dunno,” Jaemin shrugs, his bottom lip jutted out slightly in embarrassment. “It’s just…it’s sweet and it’s happy. I want it to be…”</p><p class="p1">“Us?”</p><p class="p1">“Yeah,” Jaemin admits, looking anywhere but the screen.</p><p class="p1">“I love it,” Donghyuck reassures him, and he means it. It’s a little overwhelming how the smallest gestures from Jaemin make him feel. It’s like his brain is in overdrive and he can’t really focus on anything else but how unapologetically happy Jaemin makes him. “Really.”</p><p class="p1">“You know,” Jaemin says, bopping his head to the rhythm, “it’s strange.”</p><p class="p1">“What? This?”</p><p class="p1">“Kinda,” he continues. “Like…you’re usually more, I don’t know. Snarky with me.”</p><p class="p1">“Right,” Donghyuck doesn’t really know if it’s bad that he is or bad that he’s not.</p><p class="p1">“I’ve just never really…seen that side of you,” Jaemin explains. “You can be really nice.”</p><p class="p1">Donghyuck scoffs, “thanks, wow.”</p><p class="p1">“Don’t get me wrong,” Jaemin rushes to clarify, “you’re nice generally, but you play it off as a joke. Which is funny and I like it when we, you know, tease each other. But you’re so overt about it now.”</p><p class="p1">“I figured you’ve had enough of me acting up,” Donghyuck says, and it’s meant to be lighthearted, but Jaemin frowns nonetheless.</p><p class="p1">“I can never have enough of you,” he tells Donghyuck, “I know I say that and shit, but I never actually, y’know, <em>mean it</em>. I like it. I like you, like this and like before — it doesn’t make any difference. You’re still…”</p><p class="p1">“I’m still what?” Donghyuck grins. “Sickening? Hilarious? The smartest—”</p><p class="p1">“You’re still the person I care about the most,” Jaemin finishes.</p><p class="p1">“And you say I’m being sappy,” Donghyuck says. “I hate being serious about, like, things, but I feel like you deserve to have me be serious about it for once. No worries, I’ll get back to terrorising your life tomorrow.”</p><p class="p1">“You gotta stop doing this, actually,” Jaemin replies. “If I wanna pass this term, I gotta start concentrating on class instead of entertaining you. And, well, I didn’t have much of a choice when I was desperate for your attention, but now…”</p><p class="p1">“Unbelievable,” Donghyuck gasps. “One date, and you’re already taking me for granted.”</p><p class="p1">Jaemin rolls his eyes, “you’re the last person I’m taking for granted, I promise. Also…”</p><p class="p1">“Yeah?”</p><p class="p1">“You could just bother me properly,” Jaemin suggests, “on <em>another</em> date. How does that sound?”</p><p class="p1">“We’ve been on this one for less than ten minutes, don’t you think it’s a little too early to ask me out on another one?” Donghyuck bites back a grin.</p><p class="p1">“You were supposed to be nice to me today,” Jaemin whines. “I take it back, I hate mean Donghyuck.”</p><p class="p1">“Good thing we didn’t settle for a second date, then,” Donghyuck says. “I was thinking of taking you up on it, by the way, but since you don’t feel like it anymore—”</p><p class="p1">“Hyuck,” Jaemin cuts in with a tired smile, “I wanna keep doing this.”</p><p class="p1">“You’ve gotta be more specific than this, I—”</p><p class="p1">“<em>Donghyuck</em>.”</p><p class="p1">“Fine,” Donghyuck sighs, “I’ll go out with you again. Guess I’m way too charitable for my own good.”</p><p class="p1">“Coming from someone who’s been begging me to date him for the last few weeks—”</p><p class="p1">“—Now, that’s a bit much—”</p><p class="p1">“—I love you so much, <em>Jaemin</em>, pay attention to me <em>Jaemin</em>, you look hot with your hair up, <em>Jaemin,</em>” He teases Donghyuck mercilessly and, well, maybe he deserves the payback a little.</p><p class="p1">“You have no proof!” Donghyuck argues weakly.</p><p class="p1">“I save all the chat logs from class, <em>babe</em>. And I still have the <em>why_we_should_date.pptx </em>that you mailed me if you need more concrete evidence—”</p><p class="p1">“—If you really want that second date, you should really consider dropping this subject,” Donghyuck threatens.</p><p class="p1">“I do,” Jaemin lets go of the teasing, offering Donghyuck a genuine smile instead, “I have for the longest time.”</p><p class="p1">That’s news — at least to Donghyuck. He’s only properly realised his feelings for Jaemin this year, although he probably liked him much longer. “How long?”</p><p class="p1">“God, I don’t know, a few months? Like, I remember I missed you a lot during Christmas break last year and then I saw you again and it kind of just…clicked,” Jaemin confesses. Mind-blown, Donghyuck doesn’t know how to reply for a second. It’s <em>long</em>, longer than he expected — Jaemin’s serious about it.</p><p class="p1">And Donghyuck decides it’s quite fortunate that he’s just as serious, too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank u for reading!!!</p><p><a href="http://ko-fi.com/joonswig">buy me a ko-fi</a> // talk to me on <a href="https://twitter.com/neotshy">twitter</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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